This invention relates generally to gift card holders and more particularly to a device for holding and presenting a gift card to entertain the recipient and enhance the value of the gift.
Transaction cards, stored value cards, or gift cards as they are commonly called based upon their intended use, have become popular gifts. Gift cards typically comprise a stored value card whereby a certain cash equivalent value is encoded upon a magnetic strip applied to the surface of the card. This stored value may be determined by the vendor prior to packaging and display for sale or, more commonly, is selected at the point of sale by the purchaser and loaded by the cashier using a magnetic card reader/writer. In other cases, a gift card may be provided with a barcode or serial number that is used to identify or link the card to a vendor or third party account that stores the value assigned to the card. In such cases, the bar code may be scanned by a bar code reader, or the account number may be entered into a vendor or third party computer system. While popular, gift cards are typically provided with a generic and impersonal design, typically identifying the associated merchant for which the card may be used to purchase merchandise, and therefore are not personalized in view of the intended recipient.
Gift card holders in the prior art that attempt to address some of the above deficiencies may contain pop-up elements to provide visual interest and serve as surfaces for bearing graphics but do create movement of the card itself in a way that conveys the presentation of the gift card to the gift recipient as an item of special significance or importance.
What is needed, therefore, is a device capable of readily holding a gift card while providing an entertaining and visually appealing presentation of the gift card to the recipient in a manner that enhances the perceived value of the gift card as a gift of special significance.